129: Fast Approaching 60 Days

It is said that the first 1/3 of the season is the time a ball club is evaluated as to it’s needs and strong points. Certainly, no club is really out of it at the beginning of June and no club has won anything at that point either. So many things can happen between June first and September 30th to completely change the final outcome of a season. The loss of a front line starter, or a vital bullpen guy, your best hitter suffering some freak injury no one could have foreseen or predicted. On the other hand, a club can get hot. That prospect finally getting a shot and giving a lagging team a lift. So many variables including the difficulty of a schedule and even the inexplicable moves by a manager or the ineptitude of an umpire can come into play.

All that said, let’s take a look at some of the surprises and some things not so surprising for the Braves so far. I’ll make my final predictions on September 29th…. As a note to the reader, I did not post a lot of stats for each player referenced, just know that they are all pretty darn good.

Aaron Harang

Biggest surprise so far? Absolutely has to be the stellar performance of the starting staff. League leading in ERA and runs allowed. This after both the projected one and two starters went down in spring training to elbow injuries within 24 hours of each other. Aaron Harang, while he appears to have come back to earth and his most recent starts, was a huge pick up by the Braves. Harang is another scrap heap reclamation by Frank Wren and even if he falls flat in July, he has served admirably while the walking wounded heal.

Ervin Santana

Ervin Santana has been another good signing for the Braves. His last two outings have been a bit shaky but I think he has found himself. After all, he missed most of spring training and this is about the point when the lack of early work shows up.

Julio Teheran

The Braves future ace has arrived. Julio Teheran is showing everyone why the Braves refused to part with him under any circumstances. Other than one bump in the road in San Francisco when he was unable to find grip on the ball, he will discover the hidden pine tar trick soon, he has pitched like a front of the rotation guy. Not bad for a kid who has not yet reached his 24th birthday. The scary thing is he can get even better. Maturity allows a player to become a pitcher instead of a thrower. I hope he saw Lyle Overbay induce a weak pop up on a 69 mph fastball…. Just keep it out of the middle of the plate.

Mike Minor

Mike Minor has returned and is pitching like the guy who came of age last year. Sure, he will give up a homer here and there but as long as he stays focused, he should serve well as the number three guy in the rotation behind Teheran and Santana. Gavin Floyd has yet to get a decision but that is not his fault. he is pitching a lot better than I expected for a guy one year removed from Tommy John.

David Hale

Alex Wood

The best part may be the Braves two aces in the hole so to speak, Alex Wood and David Hale. Both have been moved to the bullpen with the arrival of Floyd and Minor but it bodes well for the Braves to have two outstanding young hurlers available if needed. Meanwhile, they have done a wonderful job coming out of the pen. Hale has yet to give up a run and Alex Wood is getting the wins denied him as a starter.

While we are on the subject of the bullpen, let’s look at some nice surprises there too.

Ian Thomas

Ian Thomas, late of the independent leagues, has become a reliable lefty who has been given more responsibility of late. The slider he has added to his repertoire has given him another pitch to give hitter something to think about. He has a decent fastball and a big looping curve but the addition of his slider has made him money coming out of the pen.

David Carpenter

David Carpenter continues to impress. Often mistaken for Craig Kimbrel, he has a nasty fastball but it is his slider that often gets him in trouble. Still, he has become the primary eight inning set up guy for Kimbrel.

Anthony Valvaro and Luis Avilan appear to have benefited from more rest or better said, less use with the emergence of Thomas, Wood and Hale. Often now they have become better used as situation pitchers rather than coming in to pitch a complete half inning.

Jordan Walden

Jordan Walden is perhaps the only question mark right now. Not because of his poor pitching but more because of his being prone to injuring his hamstrings. He has such a violent delivery, added stress makes him susceptible to spending time on the DL. The good thing is the Braves have so much depth in their pen, they can afford for him to heal rather than rushing him back. The Angels certainly must have mixed emotions about their trade with the Braves which saw Tommy Hansen go to the left coast with Jordan coming east. Personally, I think Frank Wren and company picked the Angles’ pockets.

That, I think, sums it up for the first part of the season, as of this posting the Braves are in first place in the NL East by three runs of the surprising Marlins. Good pitching is important and if the Braves could find a little bit of the magic they had last season at the plate, this team could run off a couple of 10 game winning streaks which will insulate them from their occasional funks.

Pretty impressive game today by the tandem of Teheran and Gattis. A tad shaky at the start but tamed the beast for 6 inning and the pen was stellar. Evan awoke from his slumber with two long ones to support his battery mate.

Early game tomorrow against the Red Sox who are ripe a rebound. I hate playing a team in the mist pf a long losing streak. They always seem to get well against the Braves.

Gil, excellent work as always! 🙂
Man, I will forget about Steve Avery , and then I am reminded of him. Darn Shame. Methinks Bobby road him too hard at too young an age. Can’t blame him, in a way…funny all the heat Dusty Baker gets for “ruining” Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, Cub fans will never forgive him…yet he did nothing different…
but anyways, Smoltz is right, he was briefly, the best of the fab 4. I remember some playoff game where his curve was so good, the ump didn’t call it a strike…saw it high, and assumed it broke high too, and it was right down the middle….

and the braves do seem to have turned a corner….just mediocre output from CF and RF makes a difference….and LF is red hot right now!
Gil, I hear ya on poorly playing teams…that many losses in a row, they are just overdue to put a hurt on some team…

I was watching the replay of the dust up between the Red Sox and the Rays. David Ross mouthing off because Yunel stole third base when the Rays were up 5 runs in the 8th… Gomes came running in from left field and attacked Escobar. Yunel and Gomes were both ejected but to my way of thinking, Gomes should be suspended for being the third man in a fight.

Maybe a team should just throw in the towel if they are down five runs so the other team does not have to risk being injured… Sox are sore losers. They forget they did the same thing to the Rays last season when up seven….

Gil, you sure called it! Man, all a last place team from the AL needs is to come into the Braves park. Only 3 teams had worse records than the Red Sox coming into this series….
Proves to those insufferable AL is superior fans that the AL is better than the NL. Grrrr.
I didn’t even bother putting the game on, after driving home and hearing he Sox get 4 runs…I am sure Sox fans wonder why the braves manager leaves in relievers to give up hit after hit…I know some were bloops, but come on!
Lets see, what else can I pick on F.G on…let’s see. Gattis out against a lefty. Even though he can DH a game or 2 in Boston. (Assume Domint, or Uggla will instead?) 3 different 2nd basemen in this game? How are any of the 3 going to get the least bit hot this way? It just seems so panicky.

Heh…I am so quick to bash him…just read the highlights or lowlights on espn. Ok, Gattis is hurt. Guess I can’t blame that on FG. Drat. Brace on his arm. Hope he doesn’t have to go on the DL. Double drat. Would have loved to see him against the green monster….not this year it appears 😦 and Simmons has a sore ankle….which must explain 3 2nd sackers….I’ll leave my gripes in….too lazy to backspace. 😉

I’m sure I’ll think of other things FG did wrong ….can’t fall back to sleep after 3 hours of sleep…makes me a bit grouchy :p

I think the word that best describes my feeling towards the Braves this year is “Exasperated”. So many lost chances. Not scoring when the bases are loaded with no outs, giving up bloops and getting dinged to death…. Hearing Turner Field become Fenway South…. Again… Bah, Humbug!

On Gattis’s injury…. I remember a coach I once had warning us young sprouts not to “bat yourselves out” …. Sage advice … One I always remembered. Always leave something in the tank for when you needed it. Batting practice is like going to the driving range. No pressure, just hitting balls to see how far you can hit them…

Best At-Bat of the night by a Braves player? Dan Uggla in the 8th inning… Think Big Poppi doesn’t know what’s going on with Dan and the Braves? Players know….

I think Dan could flourish if in a different environment and would haunt the Braves at some point….

“Uggla is on pace for a third consecutive career-worst season, batting .177 with two homers, 10 RBIs and a .511 on-base plus slugging percentage, after batting .179 with 22 homers and a .671 OPS in 2013.

Uggla still is owed more than $21 million, including the rest of his $13 million salary this season and a $13 million salary in 2015, the final season of the five-year, $62 million contract extension he got after the Braves traded for him prior to the 2010 season.

Uggla will remain with the Braves for now, as they continue looking to make a trade with any team that might be willing to pay at least a small portion of his remaining salary. They’ve looked for some time now and haven’t found one.

If they don’t find an interested suitor in the next month or two, the Braves will likely bite the bullet and eat his remaining salary. The most salary they’ve ever paid as part of a deal for a player to leave was $10 million for Derek Lowe to go to Cleveland in a trade with a year left on his four-year, $60 million contract.”

I guess I really got spoiled with Andrew Jones play centerfield. He played really shallow which took away a lot of hits. I was telling Josie, the sing of a poor outfielder is a guy who has to play deep and come in on the ball. A good centerfielded can play shallow and go back.

Wow….Gil, I missed the errors the night before, but sure saw them tonight. Both Uptons have apparently lost the ability to field…that has to be one of the worst games I have ever seen. Not ready for prime time baseball players….
From DOB story on the game….The last two innings was ugly, agonizing stuff for the Braves and their fans, who’ve watched the team squander leads and fail to to take advantage of opportunities the way the Red Sox did again and again while sweeping four straight games in the home-and-home series with the Braves.
Yep…pretty much

By the by… Michael Bourn is hitting .284….and getting 13.5 Mil. Overpriced? sure. But, BJ Upton, after his “hot” streak…is hitting .208. and is paid 14 Mil. this year.
From 2011 to 2013, BJ hit to the tune of .229. That’s a pretty lousy tune. Bourn from 2011 to 2013? .278. And I remember not being a bit concerned about losing him, cuz he had cooled down , down the stretch in 2012….sigh….

I turned the game off after BJ muffed the fly ball in center in the eight. The score was 3-3 at the time but I knew the game was lost…. Carpenter deserved a better fate. The ground ball he failed to glove which would have been a double play and out of the inning but the wheels really fell off after that.

This may well be the curse of the Uggla…. Can’t blame him for all this mess…. I really thought Justin was a better outfielder but he appears to be somewhere else in his mind while stationed in left field.

For all BJ is giving in centerfield, the Braves may as well play Schafer. At least he provides a little better defense.

What in the world has happened to Chris Johnson? Looks as if Matt Diaz has been giving him hitting tips…

Maybe TP couldn’t do anything for them. Who are the hitting instructors in the minor league clubs? That’s where I’d look. The times Chipper has helped someone, it seems to have been effective (as far as I can remember – which isn’t far…). If he could be pried loose from some of his hobbies, it may be well worth the effort.

I don’t understand how a player can go through all those levels of “training” and still not know how to carry out the fundamentals. ❓

I think Mac had other attributes that made him valuable as a catcher. Neither guy is no Molina but when you are wasting $13 million on a centerfielder who loafs more than Wonder Bread, you have to find your bargains where ever you can.

CL, something is wrong here….and I knew both times it’s come up! 😉
Simba….
here is a screen grab of the bottom of my page….they keep changing….I am using mozilla, sadly enough as I just couldn’t find a browser as good… http://www.imagebam.com/image/fa4a36330619795

as for the current braves…that 4 game split series has left a terrible taste in my mouth that a 3 game sweep of the Marlins hasn’t erased (didn’t helpt that I missed all but an inning of that)
And as much as FG gets on my nerves, I know to a certain degree he has to play the cards he’s dealt…but even after those terrible defensive lapses, both Upton bros were in the lineup…again.
I know managers have to have more patience too…but messages can be sent. Seems last year, FG was less worried about stepping on toes than this year…..wonder if the homeboy upstairs or Wren are pulling some of the strings????

Ah, Ber. The current group is a list of 50. It repeats as the comment list gets longer. Go back up until you see Bobby Cox. He’s the last of the fifty. Now, scroll up until you see Chipper. He’s the first of the fifty. What is shown at the bottom of your screen is wherever the list ended with the length of the page. As the page gets longer, more will be shown. Remember that the list repeats. Got it now? The bottom of your screen isn’t pertinent. The group that starts with Chipper and ends with Bobby Cox is what counts.

As for a browser, we each have our favorites. I used Firefox for a long time but was having more frequent problems with it, especially crashing, so I switched to Chrome and I have to say that I really like it. Quicker, much more stable, it hasn’t crashed in the last few months that I’ve had it, and even my fb farm runs better. You might want to check it out – though that has nothing to do with the list as explained above.

I agree Ber, a lot of lollygagging in the outfield if you ask me. Not sure that Justin isn’t that great of an outfielder to begin with but it is his bat for which he was obtained. For the most part, he is pulling his weight.

BJ on the other hand is suppose to be a plus defender, not seeing it…. I’m thinking that if Frank Wren had it all to do over again, he would have re-signed Bourne….

I guess tha BJ thinks that now that his bat is working better, he can daydream in the outfield about how he is going to spend all those guaranteed millions…. There is a good reason the organization a player has been with for 8 years no longer thinks you are worth the money…

Agree on Bourn. Hard to understand that one except for his age and expected contract length. Retrospect is an easy view, though. I, too, and very surprised at the lack of defensive prowess currently shown in CF. And we’re stuck with that one for a long, long time…

I’m afraid so. One reason I’m not enamored of long-term contracts – with certain rare exceptions – like Chipper, for instance. Seems like the Uptons would have more pride. But, I guess millions in guaranteed money changes a lot of things in a person.

Lots of things go into having the right pitching staff. I remember the year John Smoltz was phenomenal but his won loss record was abysmal. Really poor team behind him and it cost him a second Cy Young in my opinion.

Got a fly ball pitcher, you need a big ball park, ground ball pitcher, better have a good defensive infielders, have a small park and poor defense, you better be able to strike out a bunch of guys.

As for Mark Buehrle, when you have a bunch of guys who are scoring runs for you, you can cover up a lot of mistakes.

If given the choice between Buehrle and Samarja of the Cubs, I would take the latter in a heartbeat.

Many years ago, a friend explained to me how there are four levels of ability in the people in an organization or group. .

The first level is the aggressive smart, now these are the folks who are smart and are quick to take action. They never give you any trouble because even though they are quick on the trigger, they are also smart so the do not make mistakes, therefore they cause you no problems.

The second level is the lazy smart. Now these folks also cause you no grief because even though they are lazy, when they do take action, it is the right play.

Then there are the lazy stupid. Surprisingly, they also cause few problems because even though they are stupid, they are lazy so they hardly ever act.

Then there are the aggressive stupid, these are the folks that even though they have no idea what they are doing, they will rush ahead at full speed causing disaster everywhere they go.

Gil, It’s funny when you first started talking about four levels of ability , I was thinking about the team, and former players(Frenchy) but it sure is spot on about the CIC.
And what’s funny is while this Admin has always been terrible, they are taking stupid to a whole new level…can’t believe how dumb one has to be to think this was going to be a good P.R. move…I just hope this level of stupid doesn’t mean the V.A. scandal is permanently put on the back burner….

and I am having trouble posting after I clear out cookies(I do it every few days) I sign back in, try to post, and get told I can’t. So, I have to open another tab, go to 128, and click on the link to 129, copy and paste what I wrote in the other tab, then I can post…weird. Haven’t changed anything.else.
And now the fab 50 pics are way up the page, not down where I am posting…more weirdness! 😉
CL I have google chrome too, it’s just….I don’t like google knowing everything I do…I know, the NSA does too….plus I had some issues, like a political chat room that it didn’t work with chrome. I have IE, but rarely use it. Tried something called Avast (which seems to basically work with IE) and it didn’t seem any better.
IF Mozilla didn’t force it’s CEO out because of supporting the defense of Marriage act in California(Amazing it passed in Cali and how much the whole country has changed since it did 5-6 years ago) and Mozilla didn’t use sometimes 2 GIGS!!!! of ram, I wouldn’t care….still has the best overall interface, my Dad knows how to use it…sigh…oh well…

As for the braves…sigh….good thing I didn’t know they were playing. So, 0-6 against the powerhouse teams of the AL eh? (or am I forgetting a series?)
La Stella looked, La stellar ( 🙄 ) defensively yesterday…and if he swung at a pitch a mile outside,well…it’s his first week…nerves have to be a bit tingly still….he’s at least hitting, which is something no guy playing 2nd could do. Probably not the wisest move to have him play his first games in the (always) playoff atmosphere of Boston.
Sorta like when Bobby put 1st round pick Joey Devine, who had been in College ball earlier in the years. Didn’t he give up 2 grand slams??? Had one great year with Oakland

always like Don Zimmer I thought it was a hard to figure out manager I mean that in the best way when I fall of the Cubs you could tell other managers weren’t sure what he was going to do. in certain situations 66 years in baseball amazing rest in peace Mr number

06/06/2004 9:14 AM ET
Berra, baseball have D-Day legacy
Former Yankee great was part of allied invasion
By Paul Ivice / Special to MLB.com
tickets for any Major League Baseball game

Yogi Berra was among the sailors and soldiers participating in the D-Day invasion. (AP)

Sixty years ago today, on June 6, 1944, with thousands of Allied troops storming the beaches of Normandy and the future of the free world hanging in the balance, America held its collective breath. As the battle raged throughout the day, news trickled back to the homefront. When it became clear that this was the beginning of the end of World War II, all of the day’s baseball games were canceled.

That had happened only once before, on the day U.S. president Warren Harding died in 1923, and the only time it happened afterward was when Commissioner Bud Selig stopped play for six days from Sept. 11-16, 2001, because of the terrorist attacks.

Thirty-five Hall of Fame members and more than 500 Major League players served in World War II, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Many of them served as fitness trainers, morale officers or in other non-combat roles. But among the sailors and soldiers participating in the D-Day invasion were future Hall of Fame baseball players YOGI BERRA and LEON DAY.

About a year before D-Day, the New York Yankees signed Berra and sent him to Norfolk in the Class D Virginia League, but he was drafted soon after and went into the Navy. Berra had been offered $250 to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals, but turned it down because he wanted the same $500 the Cardinals gave his boyhood friend Joe Garagiola.

On D-Day, while LEON DAY was landing on Utah Beach with an Army amphibious unit, BERRA was on an LST participating in the Normandy invasion, then went off the LST onto a 50-foot rocket-launcher boat that went within 20 yards of the beach.

“He said he was just a kid, so he wasn’t that scared,” said Berra’s son Dale, also a former Major Leaguer.

D-Day was costly to Americans in terms of casualties, but it is regarded by many as the greatest military invasion in the history of warfare — and certainly the largest amphibious assault. It was a monumental push that would eventually break Adolph Hitler’s grip on Europe, a turning point in that theater of the war.

Led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander and future U.S. president, the Allied forces stormed beaches at Normandy code named Sword, Juno, Gold, Utah and Omaha. German machine gunners and artillery tried to hold back the invasion force. At Omaha, they almost succeeded, costing the Allies more than two thousand casualties in the opening hours.

Through the night of June 5 and 6, American and British paratroopers were shipped to their drop zones to jump behind enemy lines to form a pincers movement, hoping to trap German units and keep others from counter-attacking. Most of the young men such as Berra and Day had never been in combat before, and the odds against them surviving were so great that war planners expected a casualty rate of 70 percent.

The Americans and their allies succeeded, gaining a narrow foothold on French soil, just enough to establish a beachhead for tanks, artillery, trucks, troops and material that was rushed ashore for the long road ahead to Berlin.

Major League Baseball’s decision to close ballparks on the day of the Normandy Invasion was particularly notable because of what had happened shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. When that threw America into World War II, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis contemplated shutting down the game. In January 1942, as that Spring Training approached, Landis wrote a letter to the President Franklin Roosevelt, observing that in ordinary times, professional baseball teams would start heading south for spring. Landis asked Roosevelt whether he thought baseball should continue amid global conflict.

Landis’ letter prompted a response from Roosevelt that is now referred to as the famous “Green Light Letter.” It stated that baseball must continue for the morale of the nation. A line from the letter read, “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.” Roosevelt outlined all of the recreational benefits, and urged Landis to see that there were more night games, giving day shift workers a chance to see games occasionally.

With the blessing from the president, Landis responded, “I hope that our performance will be such as to justify the president’s faith.” According to Scot Mondroe, an Army veteran and part of the staff of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, American League President William Harridge stated, “The president’s letter confirms that the National Pastime has a definite place in the welfare of our country.” James Gallagher, general manager of the Cubs, stated proudly: “I hope, and believe, our team will be a source of satisfaction to the fans next summer.”

Before his recent death, Hall of Famer ENOS SLAUGHTER, who spent three years in the Army Air Corps (which became the U. S. Air Force in 1947), recalled the special significance of the Green Light Letter: “It kept the spirit of the people up, and their minds off the war. I think it made everything go along a little better.”

Throughout the war years, baseball fans witnessed the decline of perennial powerhouse teams that had dominated the World Series. Rosters of fill-in players performed while nearly all everyday Major Leaguers served America overseas. On June 6, 1944, the severity of the moment in the minds of Americans simply had to override the Green Light Letter. Then play resumed on June 7 with five games, and then the full eight games (there were 16 teams then) on June 8.

In the 1998 book, “A Mile in Their Shoes: Conversations With Veterans of World War II,” author Aaron Miles included a conversation with a veteran named Lou Putnocky that offered an interesting view of serving on D-Day along with Berra.

“He was a coxswain on one of the rocket boats,” Putnocky said in the book. “He was attached to the admiral’s staff. Let’s figure they brought maybe a hundred men to supplement our crew of 500, and Yogi Berra was attached to Admiral Moon’s staff. He latched onto our particular group because that’s where the action was, and he said to us that the admiral was such a nice man. He said that when he was in England, with thousands of sailors, he was able to recognize men and he would stop his jeep with the two stars and he would pick up seamen that were part of his ship. He didn’t know them by name but he knew them by looks, and he would pick them up in the staff car, which was very, very unusual. But this was the kind of man he was, very well-liked.

“Yogi was very personable. Of course it always would come up in conversation when you had new people, ‘What are you gonna do after the war? What did you do before the war?’

“And he said, ‘Oh, I played ball, at Norfolk, in the minors.’

“And we looked at him, with his bandy legs. What the hell kind of ballplayer is this; are you pulling our leg? Were you a batboy or something? And we never paid much attention. He didn’t elaborate on it too much. It would come up every now and then, and we would kid him about it.

“Then after the war I’m looking through Life magazine and I recognize his picture. I knew him as Larry Berra, not as Yogi. And I said, ‘Larry, good God, he did play ball!’ And he was a fantastic, phenomenal ballplayer. He could hit any kind of wild, crazy pitch. You never knew what the hell he was gonna hit.

“Other than that, during Normandy I remember him pulling alongside our ship with his rocket boat. And I know, like everyone else, he was deathly scared.”

Another Hall of Famer who served in the European theater of World War II was WARREN SPAHN, the winningest left-handed pitcher in history with 363 victories. He had seen only the proverbial “cup of coffee” with the Boston Braves before he was drafted into the Army in 1942.

“It was my military obligation and every red-blooded guy wanted to protect the United States,” Spahn said in a 2000 interview.

Spahn, who died in the past year, spent 3-1/2 years in the Army, first with a tank battalion in the 14th Armored Division and then with a combat engineering battalion that was involved in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded in the foot. Later, he survived the collapse of the Remagen Bridge in Germany. Spahn, who completed 382 of his 665 career starts, earned a reputation for mental toughness that he credits to his wartime experience.

“After fighting the Nazis, facing Major League hitters didn’t seem so tough,” he said.

After Berra was discharged, he spent, spent most of 1946 in the minors, then made his major-league debut with the Yankees on Sept. 22. He shared the Yankees catching job in 1947, when he won the first of his 10 World Series rings. He made the American League All-Star team in 1948 and every year thereafter through 1962 and won three AL MVP awards.

“His secret was he never felt pressure,” Dale Berra said. “Instead, he always put the pressure on the pitcher.”

Day was elected by the Veterans Committee to the Hall of Fame in 1995, the year of his death. The Negro Leagues’ outstanding strikeout pitcher with a 95-mph fastball and wicked curve, Day was the mainstay of the Newark pitching staff in the late 1930s and 1940s. Also a superb contact hitter and speedy baserunner, Day was versatile enough to play second base or the outfield when he wasn’t pitching. He spent two years pitching on integrated Army teams during World War II, and in his first game back with the Eagles in 1946, tossed a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Stars.

While there have been several books about wartime baseball, they have focused on how baseball was affected by the war. There has been little information on the exploits of the ballplayers who went to fight the war.

Hall of Fame pitcher BOB FELLER, the legendary hurler who served for three years aboard the battleship USS Alabama, said one reason was that players who returned from the war were reluctant to talk about their experience or portray themselves as heroes.

“The heroes didn’t come back,” said Feller, a chief petty officer who was director of a set of four anti-aircraft guns on the Alabama. “They’re at the bottom of the ocean — 405,000 of them. I’m only telling this now for the young people, who don’t understand what the world and the war was like.”

Paul Ivice is a freelance writer in Jacksonville, Fla. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Gil, I finally heard Joe Simpson say Schafer needs to get some A.B’s ,and then he went 3 for 4…and why was Schafer in last night? To give B.J. a breather after a torrid stretch has brought his average all the way up to .217? To get Schafer more than 1 A.B in a game? Nah… BJ just came back from seeing his girlfriend, who gave birth two his 2nd child. Flight was delayed. That is what made the mental giant put Schafer in…he did go 3 for 4, and after a pinch hit is now 4 for his last 6….so….I expect him to sit on the bench tonight, perhaps if he’s lucky, get to pinch hit. He’s now hitting .200, on pace for 96 AB’s, every 27 Y.O’s dream….
Anyways…2 months into the season, JHey is starting to finally hit, and hit the ball the other way…what a concept! If only someone had suggested this to him before.
I’m with V, trade him while he has some value….He sure can run the bases though! That was a thing of beauty last night.
Nats and Marlins are going to make a run at this…the Nats are finally healthy, and look a lot better than they did a month ago….

PS, the Rambler is one of the toughest cars ever made body wise. Much heavier sheet metal than it’s contemporaries. The dipstick was hidden under the filler cap, Once spent 15 minutes looking for it when working as a gas pump jockey… Almost as bad as the 57 Chevy gas filler cap hidden behind the left tail light…

Loved my ’70 Dodge Charger… It was a beast. instrumentation was perfect, gas filler cap on the rear deck. 383 was a horse…. Still miss it sometimes, I understand they are very hard to find now.

Feel in love with it after seeing Bullit. Forget the Mustang, I wanted the “Bad Boy” car….

Gil, wish I had had a chance to own one of them, who knows, perhaps someday…My Dad had a 1948 Nash Convertible that he loved, and still calls Ramblers Nash’s sometimes…
So, seeing Bullit made you fall in love with Chargers eh? very cool! 🙂 We recorded Bullit in the very early 80s off of tv, used to watch the famous car chase every few months…rest of the movie seemed so slow, never watched it all till years later. Good movie, but to a teen, everything but the chase was boring…
Next time you watch it, in case you hadn’t noticed it before, check out how many times a VW bug and a 1968(well first gen 1967-1969) Firebird show up during that chase! 😉

Braves face a LHP tonight. Schaf is horrid vs. lefties. No doubt he’ll sit. I’m no fan of BJ either, but he is much improved lately. We all might as well get used to his presence whether we like him or not. His contract assures his place in the lineup.

That said, and I have no reason to defend anyone, but I believe he wants to play up to the contract as much as we all want him to. No athlete ascends to the professional level without a deep desire to perform.

Speaking of that, I wish Dan Uggla the best. La Stella owns the position now, but I sure hope Uggla gets a chance to play somewhere, and plays well enough to go out on his own one day. He’s a good guy and by all accounts a good teammate. I’ve almost forgotten what he looks like…

If you watched last night’s game, we got a chance to see Uggla’s “new” look… Played a lot like Brooks Conrad however… Must have been nerves.

The Braves had the game won twice and let it slip away.

BJ appear to play with much more energy last night. Hustled to get to every ball hit his way. Better!

Gattis is showing why he had the label of being a weak defender behind the dish…. Heck of a bat however…

Wish he would call more fastballs… Too many breaking pitches if you ask me. Leads to stupid walks….

Santa pitched better last night.

Ber, you notice little tings like the wheel cover flying off the Charger in one scene and all of them being on the car before it crashes into the gas pumps.

Yes, the movie was boring….. I guess that is why the car made such a big impression. The Mustang sounded like an irate chainsaw.. “a girly car” the Charger sounded like a beast…. Both likely had six cylinders under the hood and the sound effects guys did their magic.

Kind of like the Braves staying in first place because the Nationals and the Marlins both lost yesterday…

Ber, I got to see the construction of a lot of cars first hand (crash worthiness) because of my 43 years in the rescue squad. Toughest thing ever to attack was definitely a rail car… When cars began to be made mostly of plastic… Well, you know!!!

Fredi said he felt that with their current problems “bridging the 7th”, they had to run A-aron back out there. Uh, maybe next time he’ll try to bridge it with someone fresher.

Jonny Venters… where are you?

What will they do when Jordan Walden is activated tomorrow? Who will be sent down? Will it be the fresh faced Shae Simmons who has impressed in his short week in the show? How about Anthony Varvaro who has been decent at times, but not stellar? Or David Carpenter, who has had more than one bump in the road lately?

If it were me, I’d send Alex Wood back to AAA to start regularly and get stretched back out. Trade deadline is getting closer, and teams will be interested in taking one of our veteran starters – Harang or Gavin Floyd.

La Stella’s ability to hit MLB pitching eases one area of need, but our bullpen has not been the strength that we’ve enjoyed over the last few years. Luis Avilan 2014 < Avilan 2013. Carpenter 2014 < Carpenter 2014. Those were 2 very important pieces last season who have not lived up to their expectations this season. Avilan's dropoff has been especially felt.

V, I know you are right about BJ…he is going to be here for awhile…and I am sure he would love to hit .300 and hit 30 HR’s ( Just looked, he actually hit .300 in 2007! and hit 28 HR’s in 2012) and I recall one year in the playoffs, where he was almost impossible to get out. So, it can’t be pressure alone that is his problem.
But, he does seem to give off an odd vibe. Probably a self preservation thing, were he has to say to himself, I am a great player, just in a slump…
Thing is, he is once again in a slump. 3 hits in his last 23 AB’s..all of June so far.
That is why he doesn’t have to play every game. I see teams with 5 outfielders were the extra outfielders get more playing time than Schafer. FG just doesn’t seem to know how to effectively use a 25 man roster…

I think either David Hale or Alex Woods could stand a stint at Triple A. Young pitchers do not adapt well to changing roles in the pen. Both would benefit from the structure afforded to being a starter.

Cruising around the blogashere this morning I have come to a conclusion…. The Braves would do well to move J-Hey to center, J-Up back to right and play Evan Gattis in left field, bring up Bethancourt to catch and put Dan and blow job out of their misery…. Just saying….

Evan is not an everyday catcher, just isn’t , bless his heart… Sure, he could don the tools of ignorance on occasion but I think he would do better (less damage) in the outfield than behind the dish…. Just too many stops not being made. I know, they are called wild pitches but like an agile first baseman, you have to make those picks to prevent errors by your team mates.

Great game by Floyd last night. He should be 3-0 not 1-2 right now… Okay, 2-1 but still, has pitched much better than his record.

Thinking it’s time to realize it’s a mistake to believe BJ is ever going to play up to his contract. He has reverted to form. Swinging at pitches 8 inches off the plate and glaring at the ump like it’s the ump’s fault.

Strike outs are a part of the game but when you become the spot every pitcher looks to for an out, you need to be used as a pinch runner for a guy who can actually get on base.

Sadly, BJ and Dan have zero trade value…. beyond that, they appear to be a drag on the rest of the team whenever they are in the line-up. Hey, I could sit on the bench and cheer on my team mates but BJ won’t even do that…. At least Dan is personable. BJ comes from the same “hood” as Allen Iverson . Same ‘tude if you ask me….

Gil, that “tude” is why I just can’t pull for him and those like him. They need to leave that punk-in-da-‘hood mindset in the gutter that it came from. A professional athlete should behave like one, not like a street-corner-ignorant-dealer.

Anyone can be a “good sport” when they are winning although some cannot help themselves but to gloat but when you are loosing, it takes a real test of character to keep you chin up and keep plowing on.

Like Brother Dave once said, if the whole world is wrong, right your own self first….

Gil, not sure who exactly, but I would imagine a bullpen arm…some team must have too many relievers (say the Dodgers) and not enough starters…not really the Dodgers…3 way trade…I’ll get to work on in it so Wren knows what his next move should be! 😉

And Walden walking the bases loaded in the eight… Whew! The “Iceman Cometh”! Simmons is a beast. Making me believe he is making Kimbrel stay more focused… Craig sure looked like his old self in the ninth.

Okay, in all fairness about last night’s game. Methinks it was an extremely small strike zone which was called by the ump that led to the demise of both pitchers early last night. The only defense against such a zone is to have a really effective fastball for which to blow by hitters. Being cute and nipping corners was not happening.

Walden? Well, he was not locating his fastball but at least they were all down. Low strikes were not called at all last night.

Evan Gattis reminded me a lot of Bob Uecker chasing down Phil Niekro knucklers last night. I know, I know… Gattis in not in the game for his defensive prowess… but still, the Braves need to hire Chino Cadahia to work with Evan on the skill set of blocking balls in the dirt. After all, if you are going to call for that pitch 20 times a game, you better be able to keep it in front of you.

Worse moment was perhaps the ball which hit the heel of Evan’s mitt after Gattis was crossed up and it bounce to the Rockies’ on deck circle… Okay, that and the one that ricocheted into the Braves dugout. But I digress…

Catching is hard, a lot harder than it looks, perhaps we don’t give guys like Yadier Molina enough credit for making it all look so easy. No wonder Greg Maddux pretty much insisted on having a “defensive” catcher behind the dish every start as opposed to having a guy like Javy back there. Perhaps Greg figured he did not need a lot of run support. I still say Charles Johnson was perhaps the best I ever saw at corralling errant throws and making his battery mates better than they were.

Gil, I remember how McCann seemed to have quite a gap between his legs at times too…
funny, some catchers just have “it” Can block most anything, just drop to their knees and block a pitch, some can’t.
What’s weird about Evan, is there seems to be more errors of late, more trouble getting the signals correct, with a runner on 2nd(I can sure imagine that being difficult) Did he miss some spring training because of the knee surgery? Can’t remember.
I think I heard he only caught 40 game last year. Hard to believe.

Dang… I did not realize I was that obvious.. Of course it won’t happen but I can dream.

I have to admit that Melvin has shown a bit more hustle since sitting out the opening game of the Arizona series but given the increased amount of effort, it only exposes his lack of actual skills.

All that said, absolutely nothing will come of it because Melvin is so deep into the Braves and Frank Wren’s pockets that the Braves have no choice but to grin and bear it and hope he won’t sulk too much when he is regulated to the 8 hole in the line up.

And actually, I think it is more of profound disappointment than a personal dislike for the guy. Like Andruw Jones when he got fat and slow in the field and tried to pull every pitch down the left field line when at bat.

At least it was LA who really paid the price. I guess Karma has a way of evening things out.

V, I remember reading a Red Sox blog when the braves were playing them ( http://www.sonsofsamhorn.net language is often beyond course) and someone said, oh look, the rotting corpse of Garrett Anderson….I thought that was very mean….and sadly…fit…I really think he was hurt that after 15 years with the Angels, they let him go….so…anyone remember what he did that year here, when it seemed he really didn’t want to be here.??? In my mind…I’m thinking he hit .220-230. .268!!! Only a .303 OBP 13 HR’s 61 RBI’s Right now, BJ is hitting .209 with 17 RBI’s. Will he get to 61 by the end of the year????
Everything is relative, ain’t it???

No Gattis today unless it’s to PH… Need to give his knees a break, not to mention the rest of his body from all the wild pitches he has blocked (not caught) recently.

I really hope “good” Santana shows up tonight.

I’m not sure “pitching to contact” is a good approach to take at Denver.

So, do the shock troops all get to play tonight? I know Irvin does not get to choose the line up but I’m pretty sure he is glad that Laird is behind the dish. If he had his druthers, I’m sure he would want all the best defenders behind him (Schafer in center).

I noticed that even Joe Simpson is getting a little tired of Melvin’s ineptitude in center. Made note of the “lollygagging” in center and that other teams have picked up on how easy it is to run on Melvin when the ball is hit in his direction.

I think I will take my campaign across the street and stir them up a little bit 🙂

I can no longer deal with being across the street. I could take the SABRE-heads and short-sighted opinions to a certain degree, but the new format is a nightmare to attempt to follow. Just not worth the headache. The only things I was really looking for there anymore was DOB’s bits of inside info, and I can get that capsulized on his Twitter.

Gil, if it makes you feel better , it was only a 2 run homer! 😉 1 for 4, and he brought his B.A. up, to .210…amazing.
Speaking of folks not hitting, Fab Freddie. average down to .275. 7 hits for the entire month of June. .179 average for the month. So…a day game after a night game…. was he off? Doumit get the start? Of course not! It is super important that FF start every single game this year. Just don’t get it.
at all…..

Yes, he is, Ber. Just wish he could get more exposure on what he is doing. I’m afraid that all of his tremendous effort won’t have maximum effect, but I don’t know how to help. Can you just imagine being in the saddle 8 hours a day, day after day after day for 3000 miles? He started just a few miles north of where I live in the little beach town of Surf City, NC. Crow, his horse, wet his hooves in the Atlantic. At the end of this mission, he’ll wet his hooves in the Pacific. That’s a looooong way! Today, some stupid truck hauling a load of chickens served (purposely) and missed him on Crow by mere inches. The stupid driver thought it was real funny.

When you are hauling chickens for a living, you whole life if pretty much a joke…. but, I digress….

Lots of reasons so many vets are having a hard time trying to cope. War changes a person and mostly for the bad.

The folks in Washington just don’t get it. The folks who make the rules are mostly idealistic yuppies who have not a single clue of what it’s like to see the results of war. It’s a mean dirty business and it pretty much scars you for life. Most folks just suppress it, some folks never get over it and then there are the spouses who cheat (likely the number one reason for the suicides by the way).

Anyway, I wish him Godspeed in his quest.

Yeah Raisins, I notice my mistake later. Sorry for giving him so much credit.

David Carpenter needs to go back to Triple A to work out some issues… Perhaps he can take Walden with him.

I’m thinking Walden’s issues are mental. He is over thinking everything right now instead of just pitching and it is causing him to loose his release point.

Carpenter’s best pitch yesterday was the one he plunked Dickerson with. Aside from that, he is just not getting any movement on his fastball…. I don’t know how to help him with that other than it has to be finger pressure/grip/etc… The kid has plenty of velocity but no “stuff” right now. Something for a pitching coach to figure out.

I do know he is getting really frustrated right now and it is just making things worse. Causing him to over think everything and that plus getting dinged to death by bloops is haunting him.

Yep. It’s past the point of Carp working it out on the big league roster. And Frank needs to add another LHRP in a bad way.

Atahualpa Severino was one of the last cuts in camp. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, it came down to Severino or Ian Thomas, and Thomas just edged him out. Anyhoo, he’s pitched very well at AAA Gwinnett, with a 2.96 ERA and .204 AVG against. He’s got 38 K’s to 11 BB’s in 27.1 innings. Not too shabby. He’s much more effective vs. lefties, and that’s not a bad thing with Luis Avilan scuffling like he has. Given Carp’s struggles, and his less than stellar actions in yesterday’s game, I make that move today before the LA… er, Cali… er, Anaheim… well, the Left Coast Angels bring their hit squad to The Ted.

What’s “funny” with Carpenter , besides a bit of bad luck, is that he is actually throwing harder than ever , often 97 MPH…seems someone should try to get him to back it down just a bit…
V, they should bring him up!
As for the Angels, I just call them the California Angels, that is what I always heard them called, and what I called them, see no reason to change…

I did not think Ian was doing all that poorly. Surly not a bad as Carpenter but sometimes I think managers have blinders on. Maybe it’s all the Valium they take, It has been proven to cause short term memory loss and sure could explain a lot…

V, you got that right! Schafer(in for the injured JHey) gets a hit, steals 2nd, then advances to 3rd on a sac fly. Didn’t score, but shows that he can be a real spark plug, and…WANTS to play.
BJ on the other hand….flubbed a simple catch that lead two 2 runs scoring.(To be fair, just like the fact Gattis hasn’t caught 100 games in the majors yet, BJ has only been a CF’er for 8 seasons) Ice Man, is a stud, by the way! (CL, that is Shae Simmon’s nickname) Very impressed by the young man.

ATLANTA — As Christian Bethancourt has continued to surge offensively for Triple-A Gwinnett and B.J. Upton has extended his struggles, the Braves have at least started toying with the idea of moving Evan Gattis to left field.

Though a decision does not necessarily seem imminent, the Braves have discussed the possibility of promoting Bethancourt to serve as Atlanta’s starting catcher. If this decision were to be made, Gattis would move to left field and Justin Upton would transition to right field. To complete this equation, Jason Heyward would replace B.J. Upton in center field

Mark Bowman MLB.COM

Who says these for don’t pay attention to our little blog?

“To be honest, going forward, I would think the Braves would be better served by moving Evan to left field and bring up Bethencourt to assume the everyday catching duties.

What of Justin Upton? Well, move him to right field and shift J-Hey to center… Sit BJ’s sorry ass or trade him along with Uggla to the Independent Leagues…”

Some outstanding plays were made in the outfield last night. Two by J-Hey and surprisingly, one by Melvin…

Mike Minor may have pulled off one of the greatest Houdini acts since the last time it was done. Talk about stressful innings. It was a think of beauty to see the Atlanta pen return to form. Valvaro, Walden and Kimbrel… We won’t talk about David Carpenter… The kid has some issues…

Carp needs to go work out his issues in AAA. This ain’t the place. Not after Memorial Day.

As to Bethancourt/BJ… I do not know what to say. I cannot fathom having that much money sitting on the bench. Just can’t. It’s been done – Matt Kemp in LA for example – but not for the long haul. If memory serves me correctly, injuries took care of that situation out in LA LA Land. I wonder if Colorado would take BJ and Evan for Charlie Blackmon? 😉

If Bethancourt is promoted, who loses a roster spot? It’s not replacing a catcher with a catcher. It’s moving a catcher to the OF. Unless there are some very creative ideas being bandied about concerning BJ, Jordan Schafer is the only one. Schafer and Doumit are the only reserve OF on the roster, and I don’t see the Braves letting go of the multi-roled Doumit.

Or do they just simply release Danny and hope Pena can be the only IF backup?

Maybe “Melvin” needs to start taking ground balls again. He came up as a 2B, you know…

Missed the game Saturday(was at a trivia venue had…soccer on instead 😦 ) but got to see all of the game yesterday. Man, wish I had a chance to see Trout play in person. There was a chance, with him being here and all…but between a cold and being dead broke(Not Hilary broke, but real world broke) it wasn’t going to happen. Man, that kid can play!
And was robbed not once, but twice by the JHey kid…I sure thought the game was over…almost changed channels, but they kept chipping away…a very good win indeed!
As for the BJ thing…they would have to release both he and Uggla at the same time, IMHO…and they don’t seem to want to do that with either…really don’t get it with Uggla as he just isn’t going to get another chance unless LaStella gets hurt or goes 0-40

V, I knew he had battled Cancer before, but thought he had beaten it…had no idea it was back.
Man, such a shame! 😦 As classy a guy as the game has ever seen…and as good a pure hitter as we will ever see(who also worked his butt off to be better every day)

Just turn the TV on and was shocked to hear of Tony Gwynn’s passing. Only 54, makes me feel real old…. The guy was such an outstanding hitter as well as just a great human being.

I was telling the wife, it was not as if he could not hit home runs, he just chose not to unless it was needed. He was the master of going the other way. Just really a sad day….

Guys, I know, the conundrum as to what to do with Uglla and BJ is what can be done other than eat a lot of contract. I think the Braves are looking for any kind of deal with Uggla that saves them about a million a year.

BJ would take Uggla’s spot on the bench if Dan could be moved.

Last night Melvin took a called third strike and turn back to the ump and said “that was not a strike” Pitch track showed the ball to be right down the middle of the plate… Folks, that tells me he is not seeing the ball. How do you fix that?

John Krunk demonstrated the hitch in Melvin’s swing and as long as he has that “hole” he can’t possibly catch up to a fast ball.

Josie said Dan needs to go down to Gwennet to get his stroke back because he is not going to find it sitting on the bench. Not that Dan would take the demotion but she is right. Of course I won’t repeat what she said about Melvin but I think y’all have an idea.

Gil, you make a good point about Melvin…did you also hear the next part on the pitch called a strike? That wasn’t a strike to Trout…at first blush, I too thought it was inside, replay showed it clearly wasn’t.
Thing is…I bet Uggla might be willing to go to AAA(not a dead given, but I could see him doing that)BJ..err, Melvin? NEVER! And that’s why I think he should be released at the same time Uggla is…he would pout if he wasn’t a regular…and with is brother on the team….it makes any decision harder…cuz I imagine both would have a chip on their shoulder no matter what happens down the road…

One of the things I hate is taking the “what if” approach with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. But I myself am going that route simply because I wonder…

Who else would BJ a/k/a Melvin’s money (5 yrs/$75.25M) have brought here out of that FA class?

Well, first of all, it still would not have brought Josh Hamilton here, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. His numbers last year were good, but not 5 yrs/$125M great. And he’s been hurt more than healthy thus far this year.

Similar “good but not great” for Nick Swisher in 2013 (4 yrs/$56M), and very BJ-like numbers in 2014.

Next is Michael Bourn at 4 yrs/$48M. Slash lines of .263/.316/.360 in 2013 and .264/.306/.364 so far this year. Only 23 SB’s all of last year and virtually no power numbers. Again, decent but not worth a big contract. My big money leadoff guy has to get on base alot more than that.

How about Angel Pagan (4 yrs/$40M)? Hurt most of last year and Bourn-like numbers this year with fewer SB’s.

Those were the top 5 money OF FA’s in 2013. And I looked at every other FA OF from 2013 and there is not one that stands out as a “Man I wish we had that guy!” kinda guy. Not one.

I guess what I’m driving at is at least we can’t look at some of these guys and cry about “what we might have had”. None of the big names have given their teams the return that was expected. Of course, none have been as bad as BJ, either.

I think in the overall context of a team’s payroll, you should simply look at your total payout to your 25 available guys, which stays relatively the same regardless of individual performances, and put the best 9 on the field. I suppose you can exile Uggla to the bench because your getting a $13M performance from Gattis for a pittance. It’s a sort of payroll “balance”, so to speak. But it’s hard to do that with more than 1 player. With BJ a/k/a Melvin bringing down $13.45M this year, increasing by $1M each year for the remainder of his deal, it’s not going to happen. There is no way the Braves are going to sit on 2 big contracts.

Now, since I’ve made that statement, maybe they’ll prove me wrong. We can only hope… 😉

V, good points…we didn’t lose out on some great player. But, they (well except for Josh Hamilton) shorter contracts, and certainly for less moola.
If the braves had signed say, Angel Pagan ( I bet they didn’t think he was worth $40 mil for 4 years, but thought a guy averaging .240+ for 3 years was worth 75 Mil because of him hitting 28 Hr’s that last year in Tampa)
They would have had a perfect leadoff guy, plus an elite fielder..and a sparkplug kinda guy that BJ never will be…imagine how many more RBI’s JHey(batting 2nd) FF and J Up would have with a guy with a .309 BA in front of them???
Of course, to cut the braintrust a little slack, who would think a guy coming from the supposedly vastly superior division , and 28 HR’s in a park with no fans, would be worse in the NL, in front of fans????

#1- I demote Carp and promote Atahualpa Severino. Carpenter needs to work his problems out somewhere other than where the games count in the standings. Severino is a LHRP, is 29 years old, and is a FA after this season. He’s having a good season at AAA. I’d like to know if he can do it up here.

#2- I let Danny go. I do it for me and for him. I think we ought to give him a shot to go play somewhere and attempt to rebuild his reputation. I think he’s earned that. If I can’t make a deal, I just let him walk. I want his roster spot to be occupied by someone that’s going to give me more than just moral support.

#3- After Danny is gone, I sit BJ. He’s hurting my team both at the plate and in the field. I can grudgingly live with one side of that coin, but not both. The length of his benching depends completely upon BJ. It’s different than Danny; La Stella put the lid on that situation. But BJ can earn his position back. The key word there is “earn”. No entitlements. It goes against current societal trends, but there are no handouts here. If BJ sulks on the bench, I can’t help it. If he lets the disrespect drive him to improve his own game, then good for everyone. He’s approaching a crossroads professionally. He has to decide which path he’s going to follow.

Now… with those moves under my belt, here’s where it gets trickier. I’m not sold on shuffling all my OF’s around and sticking Gatt in LF. I’m just not. I agree that he’s no Tony Pena back there, but I’ve seen him play LF, and I don’t want him out there every game either. Plus, I’m not doing anything to derail the roll he’s on swinging the lumber. I’m good with his being so-so behind the plate as long as he’s being Oso at the plate.

If I sit BJ, it’s to give Schafer more playing time; and he in turn has to perform to keep it. Like I said, no handouts here. And for Schafer, it’s a career moment. It may be the last chance he gets in The Show to prove he can perform as a regular.

Also, I’ve seen enough of Justin in LF; I don’t want him in my RF. He’s passable in LF. He’s a liability in RF. I have a Gold Glover in RF already. Why would I want to mess with that? No, if my problem is CF, I deal with CF. I don’t upset half the other everyday positions to address one. It doesn’t make sense to me unless I’m out of the race and just taking inventory of what I have moving forward.

Ever re read a post and think…didn’t I have a bigger/better point to make?
I am easily distracted, and have other thoughts on the same topic pop in while writing..anyways…
Agree that it seems like a slim to none chance the braves would release BJ…but…I also cannot see him sitting on the bench. He would quickly become a Cancer in the dugout to get released so he could play somewhere else. Seems more likely a team like the Rays would take a chance on him, for say a Million a year, than some team on Uggla, who is only getting worse….

V, sound like good moves!
I just think something HAS to be done, and soon. “we” are so lucky the Nats haven’t gone on a 7-1 run…this gives the braves a false sense they have time to give BJ more of a chance…folks, we are close to the midway point of the season, and he is having a better year than last year, and he is still only hitting .211!!! Batting 2nd, with FF , is supposed to mean more fastballs, but he can’t hit them either. As Kruk said last night, he clearly couldn’t tell that pitch was a strike…what can you do about that? BJ couldn’t see a strike, and has a stupid bat wiggle that Kruk pointed out that slows down his swing. He isn’t likely to fix it, anytime soon.
Too bad FF is a GG fielder(no, not really) cuz putting him in LF would be less of a liability than Gattis…but…we know that ain’t gonna happen.
What is worse though? A sub par LF, hitting homers and driving in runs(and not wearing down in August and Sept) or BJ playing most every day, hitting 200 and making errors all the time?
At least try Schafer, like V said…you can tell he wants to play, he can be a sparkplug, can steal as well if not better than BJ….

Oh, and let me add one more thought. The Braves organization as a whole proved in March that we are all in with this current team. We aren’t in “building for a run” mode, we’re in “win now” mode. Why else would I have popped my budget and signed Ervin Santana, not to mention giving up a draft pick to do it? Our window of opportunity is open now, and we’re trying to win now. That means I could go and grab myself another CF in July. Who, you ask?

How about Cubs CF and leadoff hitter Emilio Bonafacio? The Cubs will be in their annual sale mode, and Boney is having a decent season winding out a 1 yr/$2.5M deal. 2014 numbers: .277/.318/.353, 12 XBH (0 HR), 11 RBI, 25 R, 11 SB. He’s only 29, bats SH, and plays 2B, SS to go with all 3 OF spots. He’ll likely only cost a mid-level prospect in return. One disclaimer: He went on the DL Saturday with a strained ribcage. Should be healthy by the trade deadline. he’ll be trade somewhere. Bank on it. He is a small financial obligation with the talent to help a contender. He’s never going to be a star, but he’s a great complimentary player.

Also, the Pirates have 3 very talented OF’s and the #10 prospect in all of baseball – OF Gregory Polanco – ready to make his MLB debut. Neither Andrew McCutcheon nor Andy Marte are going anywhere, so that leaves Jose Tabata. His 2014 slash line is .296/.333/.341. He’s signed through 2016 with team options for 2017-2019. He’s only owed $12.5M total through the end of the ’16 season. In fairness, he has more games in LF and RF than CF, but has logged innings there.

VOX, Watching Evan play left field is not all that bad. About the same as Holiday. It would take a good take charge guy in center field to make it work. Evan was tentative in left field last year. It takes guys willing to help out to make it all work.

In the meantime, don’t be surprised to see Domit in the outfield some in the near future.

And yes, the Braves are all in. Not like they are going to have someone fall into their lap.

I cannot blame Wren too much for his signings, no one could have predicted Melvin would be this bad.

“Also, the Pirates have 3 very talented OF’s and the #10 prospect in all of baseball – OF Gregory Polanco – ready to make his MLB debut. ”
V, he actually came up about a week ago…already has a 5 hit game under his belt!

T’was the beast which killed beauty… The failure of the Atlanta offense not once but twice not score with a man on third with less than two outs led to the debacle of a loss.

I was sitting in front of the TV and thinking, the Phillies had only to avoid pitching to Gattis to stave off a loss. So many chances wasted…. Used to be the Braves’ pen was the weak link, Now, unless they can continually throw up zeros, there is no help from the offense to stave off the inevitable.

David Hale is a victim, not a goat. He should not have even been in the game to begin with….

Frank… let me help you out. Your pitching staff has had to endure 2 separate 13 inning games out of the last 3. Carpenter could wake up with a third arm this morning and he’s going on the DL so that I can bring up a fresh arm for my pen.

Gee, I thought it would be obvious they would use this as an opportunity to A. Bring in a fresh arm and B. Allow Carpenter to get straightened out (rest). I have to admit he looked pretty good last night in his first inning of work.

No, I can’t lay blame on David Hale. It was the offense that lost last night’s contest. ( I use the term offense very loosely)

Fredi didn’t help anything, either, but it’s true that you have to score more than 1 run in 9 innings to win most games. You also have to get more than 1 hit in 11 AB’s with RISP. The batters bear much responsibility.

But why… someone tell me why, did Fredi not bunt the 2 runners over with NOBODY OUT in the 9th? I’ll take my chances with 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Fly ball ties it and a single likely wins it. Instead, we get a non-productive line drive out. Then one batter later Simmons singles in the tying run from 2B. Game over if the bunt had been put down earlier.

But I’ll give Fredi a pass on that one since La Stella has been a hit hitter. But for a guy who goes by the book so often, he certainly went against the percentages on that call.

The one I wont give him a pass on is the nonsensical pinch running of Schafer for Gattis in the 10th. That run didn’t matter for squat. All it did was take the best hitter on the roster out of the lineup. And I don’t buy the “stay out of the double play” crap, either. You don’t think Gatt can take out a SS? If I’m a middle IF I’m glad I get little Schafer coming in instead of the Bear. That move was plain dumb.

Here’s what I know. In order to be successful, the Braves need to learn to score early and get into late game situations with the lead. This is for 2 reasons. First, you have the best closer in baseball. Duh. But second, you really don’t want the dugout making those critical calls with the game on the line. They aren’t capable.

Wren says, NEVER! Just like the homeboy upstairs, I never admit to mistakes…perhaps I should run for office! 😦
Melvin tried at least…sigh…and how about a ball going between Laird’s leg? and then he got a foul ball off his hand, cuz just like McCann, refuses to put hand behind back

As long as Fredi insists on batting BJ and his Mendoza Line batting AVG 2nd in the lineup, we might as well concede scoring alot of runs.

Is AVG an archaic measure of performance as many of the basement-dwelling SABRE worshipers insist? They come up with a whole litany of acronyms to cover every possible factor that effects every individual pitched ball. These are the “advanced metrics”. Well, if you actually watch a game, you know a guy has to get a “hit” to get “on base” to hopefully be “batted in” and score a “run”. I don’t give a rip what these self absorbed fantasy land snobs argue about BABIP and UZR and WTF. When it comes down to game time, a guy has to get on base before he can score.

And our #2 guy gets a hit about once every 5 AB’s.

Our leadoff guy only gets on base about once every 3 AB’s. Matching the 1/3 with the 1/5 is not a high percentage. And then you get your run producers coming to bat with very few opportunities to drive anyone in.

Your best hitter, the one guy on the team that opposing pitchers and managers actually fear, sits every 4th or 5th game. Or he gets walked because he has little protection in the lineup behind him.

The #7 hitter has a higher AVG than the leadoff hitter, and the #8 guy leads the team in batting.

I’ll cut Fredi a small amount of slack only in the fact that he doesn’t have a real leadoff hitter on the team. That’s on Frank. But Fredi isn’t giving the guys he has the best opportunity to succeed. And that’s the real measure of a great manager. It’s what Bobby did so well for his entire HOF career. Whether or not you liked his “X’s & O’s”, Bobby always gave his players their best opportunity to succeed. That’s not happening in our dugout these days.

Well VOX, at least Gattis will be well rested when he is traded this August….

Okay, I know they won’t trade a cash cow like Evan but I was just trying to make a point.

Perhaps the Braves sliding down the standing to about third will be a good thing. It’s pretty tough to make a change in your staff while you are in first place, even if the rest of us haven’t seen the need for it it for the past two months.

I would let Melvin sulk and whine from the far end of the bench or maybe just have him stay in the club house so as to not infect anyone else with his bad vibes.

Not like I see him and his brother paling it up together either, even Justin can feel the bad vibes emanating from his very presence in the dugout.

Y’all have heard of spark plugs, well, Melvin is a spark suppressor.

There is a reason why the average fan in Atlanta gives Dan Uggla a big hand whenever he comes up to bat, it’s because Dan has handled his exile with class, not like Melvin who has something smart ass to say to the ump every time he strikes out. Think the other umps don’t see it? It only makes the strike zone bigger for the opposing pitchers….

Something has to happen to shake this team up…. Benching Uggla was only the first step. Now it’s time to shake this line up awake. Trade BJ for a box of sunflower seeds and a future draft pick and eat the contract. It will be addition by subtraction.

Well put guys!
So as not go too much over the same territory…other thinks sucking right now…BJ U…wait, no, no, no…
Andrelton Simmons is hitting .211 for June. J Up, .192 FF .222 (But is starting to come around of late)Ok, BJ .190.
So…why is it half the team is always ice cold? I mean, not .240-250 cold, but .190-200 ice cold? Everyone on the team can’t be streaky hitters, right???

Yet another branch of the dear leaders power has decided, the Redskins can’t trademark their name anymore, even though I have yet to see a poll of Native Americans that finds a majority are bothered by the name….
so….how long before the Braves have to change their name? 😦

Yes, now that “Redskins” has been demonized by the bourgeoisie so as to be a diversion from the other atrocities being committed in DC, surely “Braves” cannot be too far behind. Maybe they can change to the “Meeks”, because that is certainly how they are conducting themselves of late…

If you just missed it, Gavin Floyd, our best trade chip, was pitching an absolute gem of a game. He was building that value… and took himself out after a pitch. Had a nasty swollen lump on the bottom side of the surgically repaired elbow. Not good… not good at all. 😦

We had a storm last night and lost power until 11:30… When I was finally able to get the score, I did not know of Floyd’s injury. What a weird change of events…. Recovery/surgery/rehab really depends on the cause of the break. If it is a bone density issue, it would be a career ender.

All those moving parts after Tommy John, all only as strong as the weakest link. All that said, what a bummer….

I suspect he will have some type of surgery to strengthen the bone, The biggest danger is how close the ulna nerve lies in relation to the olecranon process.

Looks like the Phillies got healthy again by playing the Braves, the beat the Cardinals last night. What a Jeckyl and Hyde division the NL East has become…

Braves have called up 26 year old righty Juan Jaime from Gwinnett. The kid has a fast ball that touches 100 mph but has been known to have control problems… DUH.. Throw it 96 and it will go where you want it to kid. It’s why they call it pitching and not throwing…

Hmmm… an interesting conundrum. Braves face Strasburg tonight. Did you know that one Mr. Dan Uggla is 12 for 30 (.400) w/ 2 HR’s and 10 RBI off him?

So, would you rest a kid who has had a pretty nice career start and has proven himself to be a very capable MLB hitter to A) not expose him to Mr. Nasty, and B) give Dan the spot start? Typically, I am against “protecting” guys, rather thinking that you need to face the worst and the best and all in between. But it might be a decent time to give Danny a spot start. Plus, I think I’d rather have Tommy come off the bench late and lay down a bunt for me (since he’s probably the only guy on the 25 man roster capable of bunting… well, maybe Schafer too). I look for a low scoring tilt, and that one guy being in scoring position late might be key. Of course, I am assuming that the dugout would make the correct strategical call. Can’t assume anything out of our dugout.

Then again, when the Braves and Nats match up, weird things always happen.

PS- Just had a thought of what BJ might look like tonight vs. Strasburg. Ew. Wish I hadn’t had that vision… just ruined my lunch appetite…

Well, sure hope Floyd can pitch again…man, not like he was throwing 100….think of all the pitches Nolan Ryan threw in his lifetime…games where he threw 200 pitches….I remember when one pitcher was asked if he thought Nolan threw more pitches than anyone else and he said, heck, he probably threw twice as many pitches as any pitcher….

I feel asleep after Kimbrel blew the save, woke up to see Jamie pitching and off to la la land again, nice surprise to see the Bravos won it in 13.

A couple of observations….. Mike Minor looked very sharp. The Braves are not the least bit intimidated by Strasburg. Kimbrel is human and Melvin proves that even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while by drawing a lead off walk in the thirteenth which allowed him to score the winning run.

That and Gattis has become a beast…. He may not be a gifted defensive catcher but he drives in more than he lets in….

The word is out, throw strikes down the middle of the plate because Melvin cannot see the pitches…. Even the Washington announcers have noticed it… He has lost (is having trouble) with his depth perception). Explains everything….

I thought so too but I think the real problem is the pitchers don’t respect Evan’s abilities so it becomes a “cancer” thing. Evan is a pretty soft spoken dude but I think he is going to have to “toughen up” to get the pitchers to stay in line. All part of growing up in the Bigs.

I just feel a bad vibe coming out of the Braves’ clubhouse and I think it has everything to do with Melvin and his brother… but what do I know, I’m just a disgruntled blogger with know real experience in baseball….

Gil, it really shows on their faces, doesn’t it? I can almost hear J Up saying, there will be trouble if my brother doesn’t play…who knows…perhaps he wishes now the braves hadn’t signed him.(his brother)
But, what can be done??? Perhaps if the braves finally release Uggla(at this point, what can they be waiting for?) BJ will either realize that he can become a 4th outfielder, or get released…of course he might get worse(if thats possible) to get released and go back to Tampa, ….
Imagine, all he would have to do is hit .240 to take the heat off of himself….

To be honest, I think the novelty of brothers wore off last year when Melvin failed to break the Mendoza line. They don’t really appear to be that close.

For all of Dan’s failing, being a drag on the team was not one of them. At least he would get a walk or two. As it stands, no one else wants your garbage. I think the Braves would love to be able get even half the money owed to Melvin. Not going to happen…

Gil, that’s interesting…I thought perhaps they didn’t want to look too buddy-buddy, but it could be they aren’t that close, and with BJ struggling so mightily , J Up may try to distance himself…who knows?
As much as we justifiably beat up on FG , if BJ was hitting .240, and Uggla .230 with say 15 HR’s, he would look a lot smarter…

Saw this link under the braves page on espn, never seen it before…some interesting info on minor leaguers and the big leaguers…a bit opinionated at times, but then what baseball writer isn’t?http://www.gondeee.com/

Peraza, ranked No. 3 in the Braves’ system, has been regarded as a player who could serve as Atlanta’s starting second baseman and leadoff hitter at least by the start of the 2016 season. The 20-year-old infielder was promoted after he hit .342 with 35 stolen bases (42 attempts) in 66 games with Class A Advanced Lynchburg. In the five games he has played since joining Double-A Mississippi, he has hit .522 and proven successful with two of his three stolen-base attempts.

“I saw [Peraza] in instructional league,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He’s athletic. His natural position is shortstop and now he’s learning the nuances of playing second base. He’s hit at every level he’s been and he can also steal bases. He’s got speed and thievery. That’s a good combination.”

Woods makes his return tonight, let’s hope he brings his “A” game. He has done well in Triple A and says he has found his change up again. It would give him the 3 pitches (along with his fast ball and curve) needed to be a successful starter in the Major Leagues.

Watching Craig last night, I heard Paul Byrd make a telling comment that Kimbrel should stop trying to nibble at the corners and just let his fastball move to whatever spot to get players to swing and miss. Few can catch up to it and it is lead off walks which get him in trouble.

Melvin hits a 325 foot fly ball to left at Minute Maid Park and it is a home run, Gattis crushes a ball 402 feet to left center and it is a loud out. The baseball gods must think it hilarious…

On playing Melvin in the lead off spot, I guess Fredi feels justified after BJ’s home run. Still would feel better having him out of Atlanta all together but that is above my pay grade.

Opposing pitchers have seen enough video on Melvin by now to realize he cannot see or hit a fastball. If they hit his bat, they have only themselves to blame. Why not let the pitcher lead off? Results would be the same…

Three straight high and inside fastballs gave the guy a chance to get on time. I don’t know if it was Laid, the bench or Minor who made the decision on pitch selection but the results were devastating, It wasn’t a cheapee either… .

Maybe last season was a fluke, they were pretty young and they are still the youngest team in baseball… All of major league baseball…. Younger even than the Astros…

Ber,, Carroll met a fellow who was in Richmond about 3 years ago or maybe he transferred to Richmond about 3 years ago but it has been a pretty long term relationship. He took a job in Charlotte NC which is her home town. I suspect she will get a job writing there or could even do a book. She is a pretty good wordsmith. I never thought her picture in the AJC did he justice as she is/was quite attractive when I met her in person.

And how about them Braves… Whew, Freddie was da bomb and Julio pitched like an ace. Got out of some deep doo doo in the fourth. Never felt like the Braves had the game on ice after they failed to score in the fourth and fifth.

Kimbrel sure can make things interesting at time. I still think he is overthrowing at times rather than just letting the ball come out easy and allowing it to move. I thought for sure the Phillies had tied it up on that long out to center. Didn’t miss it by much….

Double dip today, first game at 2PM and tonight’s game is on big Fox… Check your listings CL, you may get that one on your local Fox affiliate

I don’t expect Evan to be able to play either game but I would like to see Dan get another start. I thought he had three good at bats last night. .

Okay, looks like the Braves will stay even with the gNats with a win in game one this afternoon. Naturally, I will get shut out from seeing game two tonight as I am being blessed with who else? Yankees / Red Sox…

Going to go for a swin and then watch Son of God on PPV… Will catch the high/low lights tonight on MLB at 11 PM.

Thinking that this Melvin leading off may work, the Braves have too play him somewhere and may as well give him a go. Now, if the Braves can just get Heyward hitting like we all know he can, we might be able to run off a couple 10 win streaks..

Are y’all ready for this? Mark it down. I’m about to make a statement.

Fredi Gonzalez has done a pretty good job lately. Credit where credit is due. I’ve questioned a few moves, and they’ve actually paid off. Even minus the obvious (“Mel” at leadoff), I think Fredi has done a pretty decent job keeping the team moving in a positive direction after getting the wind knocked out of their sails before hitting the road for 11 games. 8-3 over that long stretch is a darn good run, and the manager has had a hand in it. Tip o’ the cap, Fredi. Just keep it up, OK?

Raisins, I’m not sure if Melvin’s hitting streak is because he is more patient and opposing pitchers are missing the strike zone or like today opposing outfielders suck at their job. Could go either way on that. One thing for sure, brother Justin is playing with a lot more intensity.

Some really big knocks by LaStella since moving him back down in the order.

Harang was a pro today. A couple of times he could have folded like a cheap card table but he made some pitches when it counted. Young Shea Simmons continues to impress and Kimbrel is scaring the bejeezus out of me lately.

All and all, they played the Phillies in Philly like the Phillies played them in Atlanta. It was an impressive series.

Very pleasantly surprised by the sweep up in Philly!
As for Melvin(Ok, I must confess, why is he called Melvin here?)
6 game hitting streak…6 hits over the streak. A few more extra base hits at least…
Still, who else but BJ could over a 10 game stretch, see his batting average go from 208 to 205?????

Ber, BJ Upton’s given name is Melvin. His father’s nickname was Bossman, As Melvin was the oldest, he was called Bossman Jr, thus BJ… Until he earns my respect, I have taken to calling him Melvin… Could call him Melvin Junior but that requires too much respect on my part. Thus, Melvin…. It’s a personal thing and thus Melvin.

Like calling Chipper Jones Larry, but different…

Yep, no third baseman but a rover… It could work…

Now, the thing that really jumps out at me is Bethancourt behind the dish. Gattis’ MRI must have been disappointing. Will look across the street to find out.

Per DOB, at about 6:30pm: “Fredi Gonzalez said he hadn’t gotten word on the results of an MRI… Gattis had the MRI on Friday afternoon. The Braves weren’t expected to announce the results of the test before the first pitch on Monday.”

During the third inning of last night’s game, I would not given the Braves a snow ball’s chance in Hades of winning the game. Woody looked about as discombobulated as a pitcher could look. Then he got out of the inning only giving up one run and he appeared to speed up his tempo. Night and day difference.

Wheeler looked stellar, yet, the Mutts bullpen let him down, along with a whole field full of Brooks Conrades. I kept thinking during the Braves’ eight of how errors can be the undoing of a lot of decent performances.

It bites for Gattis to be DLed. Tough injury to predict because of the torque of his swing but I am hoping for the best and expecting Bethancourt to actually improve the Braves defensively. Still, it is a big piece of lumber to lose with Evan out. Fortunately, the Braves have learned how to produce runs without the long ball of late. . Melvin is working his way back into my good graces, the pop up slide he was called out on was maybe the type of wake up call he needed.

Now, if we can just get Chris Johnson’s bat going again….

Big knock again by LaStella, I’m telling you, the kid reminds me more and more of Mark Lempke every day.

CL, a great play by a great RF’er, just wish he would hit like we all thought he would….heck , instead of being a .300+ hitter, hitting 30 HR’s and driving in 100 every year, I would be happy with .280 with 20 Hr, and 90 Rbi’s.
Right now, on pace for 16 Hr’s 59 RBI’s (expected hitting leadoff most of the years) with a .248 BA. last 10 games, 1 double, 1 triple, 1 RBI. last 7 games, .136 BA.
Last year, 14 HR, 38 RBI’s and .254 BA.
If he wasn’t such a great RF’er, would he even be a regular?

Now baseball… Most impressive performance last night was Shae Simmons. One out, Men on the corners and he held the Mutts in check, Then followed up with a scoreless 6th. I told Josie it would be a good outing if he only allowed one run in that situation, he slammed the door. Most impressive….

Mike Minor appears to be struggling mightily against left landed batters, not doing all that great against righties either. Any ideas? Shoulder problems maybe? Velocity seems to be about the same but very inconsistent with his breaking pitches and too many pitches being left up in the zone. Hmmmm, maybe the two are hand in hand. One has to wonder if David Hale might be a better option right now.

Woody is still learning on the job. I did not think he would make it out of the third inning but he seem to gather himself after escaping with only one run allowed in the third and pitched strong for the next three.

Maybe running the bases in the bottom of the fourth on a hot night took Mike’s legs out from under him in the fifth. Just so many moving parts with his mechanics, one hardly knows where to start.

The Braves have appeared to have discovered “small ball”… I’m liking it. Sure, home runs are exciting but making consistent contact has its own beauty. Guys like Simba and BJ and LaStella can make it work and leave it to the boppers like Freddie, Justin and J-Hey to poke the big flies.

With Gattis sidelined for who knows how long, the Braves need to be smart in their base running and creating runs.

Looks like the race is now on between the Braves and the gNats. This should be fun. With the Dodgers catching the Giants and the Cards pressing the Brewers, It is going to be an interesting summer.

Anyone else notice how much sweat was pouring of of Bethencourt last night? Reminded me of John Thompson. The kid will need IVs to keep him hydrated if he is going to play in the sweltering heat of an Atlanta summer. Makes me wonder why the Braves didn’t opt for a domed or convertible stadium for their new home in Cobb. The last game I attended in Atlanta kind of cured me from wanting to go back, If I do, it won’t be a lower level seat. No air at all. The only redeeming thing about the experience was Mad Dog was pitching so the game was over in about two hours.

Coincidence? No. Direct result? I don’t think so either. But related? Definitely. Guys at the top are getting on; guys in the middle are getting them home. It’s a simple formula that isn’t so simple to execute. But when folks start hitting, and as nonsensical as it is, hitting truly is contagious, good things happen.

La Stella and Lemke have some similarities in their game, but not in personality. La Stella’s expression never changes. Get a hit –> stoic expression. Strike out –> stoic expression. Make a great play in the field –> stoic expression. He is as steady as a surgeon’s hand. Fredi said it took him several days to figure him out, and once he did he really likes the guy. But at first he thought he was cocky; then not cocky but aloof; then not aloof but intense; then he finally realized the guy is just simply steady. No real highs and lows. Stoic, like Glavine was for so many years. TLS take his game very seriously, and to that end he has a laser focus. All good qualities, but likely never going to be a good interview and never going to join in too many dugout celebrations. And that’s OK. He sees his job as just that… his job. And he’s serious about it. I like the results.

It does make me wonder how he’ll react when the inevitable rookie hazing begins later in the year. Probably won’t change his expression, even while wearing pink pajamas though the airport.

Had a conversation with Richbrave this morning. His grandson is playing center field for the University of Virginia. Anyway, he said in talking with other folks (parents and grandparants who’s kids played with the Uptons on travel squads said they always had an “attitude”… The one we see so prominently displayed by Melvin.

Same attitude displayed by Bryce Harper. Humility is not their strong suit….

CL. The silver lining to a hurricane is the beautiful weather one experiences while picking up the debris from the winds. Hopefully, You and Kelly suffered little damage from the storm and the lights stayed on.

Great photo of Evan, Raisins…. 🙂

So, the Braves pick up a reliever? Are they short handed in the pen? Has to be something else afoot.

Very pretty day here, I fear what we will find when we go to the bay on Monday though. High water is a pain… Makes one wonder why we bother….

See, we have been around the block a time or two, would not be surprised if Dan Uggla isn’t involved. Only question is how much salary the Braves will eat. Of course, don’t know why they would need a second baseman if the have Altuve. But, stranger things have happened….

Now the good news, Cubbies schooled the gNats today in front of 40,000. Of course, most were there so they would have a parking space for the fireworks on the Mall tonight..

Will be a large crowd in Atlanta tonight, Pretty weather, fireworks, Friday night… what could be better?

Nice game all around last night. great crowd and the home team did not disappoint. Streaking indeed.

Cubs make a big trade with the A’s With Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel going to the left coast. Don’t look for the Cubs to sweep the gNats this weekend. The Cubbies received two former first-round Draft picks in Addison Russell and Billy McKinney plus Oakland’s best Triple A starter in Dan Straily. I guess the silly season has officially begun…

One other thing, very creative strike zone by the home plate umpire last night. No wonder the hitters were confused.

4 o’clock start this afternoon. Harang will go against the D-backs’ rookie starter Mike Bolsinger who has been a bit of a hard luck guy. I know Arizona is use to the heat but I know the high humidity can really wear a player down. That said, the humidity can be just as bad in D.C.

Baseball…this win streak is surreal to me…except for hearing an inning or two on the car radio, and catching the last inning coming home at night, I have missed almost every one of the 9 game winning streak! (I know CL, Cry me a river Berigan! 😉 )
Just don’t know what to think except some quite good pitching of late, and timely hitting…why I see BJ had 2 whole hits last night! 😉

A winning streak is a winning streak. No matter who the competition is. Some would say, well, look at the teams they are playing… So, it’s not as if these same teams have not beat Atlanta in the past, in fact, the Braves usually play down to their competition. So, Yea!…

Day game this afternoon and the weather will be fine if it’s anything like it is here. I do love it when the humidity isn’t 90%… The schedule with be tough enough next month.

Just keep going as long as you can boys…

What is encouraging is the way the Braves are scoring runs. A lot of them are of the manufactured verity. That is the way you can keep a streak going. Now, if we can just get J-Hey going.

I was watching the Fox pre game yesterday and Frank Thomas was saying Jason needed to stay upright in his stance more. (I was thinking of the adjustment Evan Gattis made to do just that) and he would generate more back spin on the ball, thus, more carry… Hopefully, someone besides me was listening.

Gil, it’s funny how others see the problems, but seemingly no one else does…I’d tell him to watch hours of game film…from the first two months of his rookie season. Remember how everyone and their brother was worried he’d hurt a first baseman with a liner one day?

I wondered why the Cubs would trade for a short-stop when they already had Castro but I guess the Cubs are looking to have options. They will still need pitching but maybe they have them in the pipeline.

Was listening to the talking heads yesterday opine on how the Braves never let themselves get old during their streak in the 90’s.

I always thought the Braves would have a rookie at some position every year but I remember JS saying a team could not contend if they had two rookie position players in the line up on a regular basis.

Last year it was Gattis, this year it looks like it might be LaStella. Of course Bethancourt could also be a regular bit I am thinking the Great White Bear will return after the AS break.

Yes, the streak(s) are over, and that’s OK. It was fun while it lasted, and pretty necessary to set the tone for the 2nd half. As much as the other teams in the NL East wanted to think they had a shot, it needed to be made evident that it is a 2 man race, and that notice was served over the last 2 weeks. That said, it ought to be a heckuva 2 man race.

Also, now that the calendar page has turned to July, the silly season is in full swing. I knew Samardzija and Hammel would both be traded, but was shocked to see them go together to the A’s. Billy Beane is indeed serious about this season. He’s got a heckuva rotation over there now. Man it’s a good’un.

And Chi-town is stockpiling top prospects for a reason. They have All-Star Starlin Castro well entrenched at their SS spot for the time being, and he’s not old. Top SS prospect Javier Baez is hanging out at AAA Iowa, and would probably be playing for many MLB teams. Newly acquired Addison Russell is one of the top prospects in all of MLB, and he’s not far behind. SO they are positioning themselves for some major moves, either in the next 4 weeks or over the summer. I look for Baez to be the one moved, and probably before July 31. I could see either NY team, Boston, Detroit… all high profile teams that could make it happen. Boston especially is deep in prospects, but are targeting Giancarlo Stanton in the summer. Doubt the Mets would let go of any of their young pitching. The Yankees usually deal young for old. Still, they could get in that mix. Time will certainly tell. But Theo Epstein is no dummy. His ducks are lining up in a row.

As for The Redskins, er… Braves…

They won’t shake up any news wires. They’ll go get a LHRP. That’s about it I suspect. I’d kinda like to see them at least kick the tires on the rumored-to-be-on-the-market Martin Prado, but he’s not exactly tearing it up in the desert. Still, his presence in our dugout would be as valuable as his bat. The extension they gave Chris Johnson (3 year, $23.5M, under contract through ’17 with team option for ’18) is not prohibitive, but it won’t make it any easier to move him. It’d help if he was hitting a little more consistently. Still, he hasn’t been awful. In fact, if you check the numbers, he’s pretty much back to his 2013 performance for the last 5 weeks. Not sure Prado would be an upgrade there. I just like the guy.

Nah…. Frank will do little more than a lefty specialist if he can find one. I just hope it’s better than Scott Downs last season.

I’m just happy they went to the AL, of course the Braves will have to play them in August. Should be an interesting week, the Nationals, the Dodgers and the A’s, all back to back to back… Should really give the Braves an idea of how good they really are… or are not…

The Braves looked king of flat yesterday, they had their chances and the pitching was good enough, just could not come up with the timely hit. I did not think Miley was all that impressive, just the Braves’ bats were anemic.

That and CJ kept hitting the ball right at people. A game of inches indeed.

So it is on to New York, just in time to escape the heat that is coming back in. Of course, it will be hot and muggy in New York but not as hot or as muggy as Atlanta.

One last comment, LaStella has to stop thinking he is a homerun hitter. All of a sudden, he is swinging up through the zone instead of level. Warning track power. period…. He needs to remember who he is. Leave the homers to the boppers and hit the gaps…. Not saying he can’t hit one out in some of the band boxes where they play but not at the Ted…

James Russell, LHRP. Almost became a Brave last year at the deadline. Would likely cost only a mid-level prospect… maybe a little more, but not much. He’s 28 and not a FA until after 2015. He’s a big fella at 6’4″, 200. He has a 2.22 ERA over 24.1 IP, including 20 K’s vs. 10 BB’s. Oddly, he’s been more effective vs. RH this season, but not so over his career. Low cost, low commitment, low profile… fits the mold of the typical Frank mid-season move.

Hmmm… bring Prado back for 2B? No disrespect intended for La Stella, but the Braves are very young, and Prado’s presence in the clubhouse (and dugout) cannot be understated. Not to mention that Jose Peraza will be ready to take over at 2B when Prado’s contract is up after the 2016 season anyway.

I bet you could pick up Prado for La Stella + throw-in. Simple cost savings for ARI. Prado is having a somewhat disappointing season in ARI, so it’s a “buy low” opportunity for a guy that we all know can turn it on and practically carry a team. The only hangup for me is trading one of our few LH bats for another RH. But BJ, Prado, FF5, Gatt, JHey, JUp, CJ, Simba does not look like a shabby lineup to me.

Some good opining (opineation?) on this here blog…
Prado back to play 2nd base perhaps? Hmm, interesting thought indeed. Weird that he only has 3 HR’s this year, playing in that launching pad. Has hit at least 10 the previous 5 years. Imagine it’s hard to play for Gibson. His kind of player, but still….imagine he would play much better here. Wonder after being burned on that last trade with the braves, would they make another?
He would be perfect batting 1st(though I imagine BJ is there for awhile, his hot hitting has gotten his average all the way up to .211!) or 2nd…more likely 2nd, eh?

Oh, they called up Brooks Conrad! And he hit a homer after 8 A’B.s Good for him, 18 HR’s in the minors, and they just now call him up. See Frenchy is hittin .295 and has 15 HR’s . Again, team is hitting .213. What can it hurt?

Difference in LaStella vs Prado. For Frank it’s several million dollars. Personally, I’d loved to see Prado back. At least he has some power However, do look for it to happen, it;s only wishful thinking. Would be nice though.

Horrible call by the umps last night. Conflicting explanations afterward. Just glad is didn’t result in a run. Still, horrible interpretation (or lack thereof) of the rules. They completely ignored the specificity of the “neighborhood” aspect of review.

BTW- In my opinion, Varvaro didn’t lose the game for the Braves in extras last night, Avilan lost it with a fat pitch over the middle of the plate for the long tying home run in the 9th. Should have never gone to extras.

Venters had a setback in his road to recovery, and had one of those “platelet-rich plasma injections” into the elbow in mid-June. It requires 3-4 weeks of rest following, so he probably won’t even pick up a baseball until somewhere around the ASB. Then, who knows? Making it back from a 2nd TJ is a rough climb. I hope he makes it back. But in the mean time, the Braves have to find someone on the trade market. And they need him before July 31. Avilan would not be on the Major League roster right now if he didn’t throw with his left arm.

Julio reminds us every so often that he is just a kid. His body language speaks volumes when he becomes frustrated and he has that little kid attitude of “I don’t want to play anymore so I will just have tantrum and groove a few, that will show em… take me out coach, I dare you”

The game was over by the third inning. The Braves really, really miss Evan’s bat in the middle of the line up…

Peavy? No thanks. How would he help the team? Do we really need a #4 or 5 starter? All that money(I would assume Sox would eat at least some of it) and he is signed thru 2017???
Cards have about a zillion above average starters even with 2 going down, makes no sense for either team, IMO

If I had to guess, the Braves are looking at a veteran like Peavy because they are about to trade Harang in their quest to obtain a LHRP. A-a-ron fits the mold of a guy to be on the move at the deadline – veteran with contending experience, short term commitment, affordable deal, cagey effectiveness. For a team like St. Louis, who only needs a veteran at the back end to help give them the final push, Harang would be perfect. (They’ve already looked in on Peavy, too. But Peavy is under contract for 2 more years.) The Braves problem is that they caulked the seams when both Medlen and Beachy went down. But their depth at SP is now threadbare with Floyd out for the season. Peavy is durable and effective. Given Minor’s lack of effectiveness, or at least lack of consistency, there is room for improvement for our rotation.

Plus… no one can count on either Medlen or Beachy to be a part of things going forward. One only has to look at Jonny Venters to realize that coming back from a 2nd TJ is not a given. Who will the Braves have in 2015? Santana is only under contract for 2014, and is probably looking to move on to the highest payday after this.

Starting pitchers that are a lock to be here after 2014? Teheran, Minor & Wood. That’s it.

According to the Braves beat writer, there is nothing to that report on Peavy. He says people he’s talked to says there is zero interest.

But what will the Braves do going forward? Lucas Sims is 2 years away and Hale, while effective in spots, is not a lock to succeed. (We’ve had many youngsters do well in similar situations and never repeat it the 2nd season. Anybody else cringe watching Randall Delgado mopping up for ARI last week?)

In my estimation, the Braves put many hopes in Gavin Floyd to be the veteran presence. His freak injury cannot be undervalued. It was a major blow to the team.

Wonder sometimes if the Red Sox and Yankees don’t just toss out rumors to plant seeds….sorta like, hey, you know Giancarlo Stanton….boy howdy, he’d sure look good in a Red Sox uni….seems like they have been wanting him for 2 + years. Well, who wouldn’t??? Thing is, teams like the Sox and Yankees, always seem to have depleted farm systems(more Yankees of late it would seem) and don’t have the “pieces”to get those kind of players. But, teams deal with them, (seems teams get pressured to get rid of good players cuz you have to if you are in last place) and get a bunch of mediocrity back… sorta what the braces used to do in deals…
But a guy who has lost a lot off of his fastball, with a 4.64 ERA this year….sorry Sox, he’s all yours…

As for Carpenter…not sure why they brought him back so quick, then didn’t use him. Hard to be sharp when you don’t pitch for a week…and now won’t pitch for another week at least… and my favorite broken record…Schafer. 2 ABs for Schafer in 11 days. That’ll keep him sharp. Gotta hit kid to play…gotta play once in awhile to hit, coach….

I’m a little surprised that BMac has not hit better this season but it is what it is, Changing leagues often has the same effect. Some guys get past it, some don’t/

Because I’m not the GM, i’ll let next year take care of itself. I am a little more worried about this season. The gNats are playing better despite Harper’s mouth.

I really like Bethancourt behind the plate too but not at the expense of Evan Gattis’ offense. Sigh, tough being a Braves fan now, not like the old days when you knew they would lose at least 90 games a year and only would have one or two good players. It was easy not to watch or care.

Ah, didn’t know that V, thanks…
as for the game…well…runners on, but can’t get them in…something new and different, eh?
Mets starters look real good right now…if they had a bullpen, they’d be competing for the division…
J Up basically cost us the game letting Wright turn a single into a double…
Chip said the braves have 1 homer in the last 344 AB’s wow…

Well, can’t we both be right? 😉
Joe Simpson went out of hist way at the time of the screw up, and talking post game about how that lit a spark under the Mutts.
All on the night they were hyping J UP for the all star game. Nah…he needs 3 days off….
But yeah, hard to win scoring 1 run, eh?
Of course I have gotten to see more games once the winning streak is over, now a 4 game losing streak….almost seems like this is a really streaky team , chuck full of streaky hitters

Definitely streaky. JUp as streaky as any… maybe moreso. And I am not one to defend any guy making as much money as those fellas do to play a game, but JUp had really been crushing the ball of late, and made some amazing defensive plays during the winning streak. Not so much in NY.

BTW- BJ has hit the ball much better over the last couple of weeks. Looked pretty good for the most part even last night. I pray it continues.

I don’t think I have ever seen so many hard hit balls that looked like sure homeruns off the bat die just shy of the wall as I have this week in New York.

Yes, the lollygagging is frustrating. Seen it too many times before, I can understand Joe’s frustration. After all, he has to try to stay upbeat through the misery. Not like he can change the channel like a certain fan in Mechanicsville has the ability to do.

Whew indeed Raisins… At least the bleeding has stopped. 4 O’Clock game this afternoon. Alex Wood on the mound for the Bravos and a kid the Braves have not faced before, Jake Arrieta. The best the Cubbies have right now. the kid is 5-1 with a 1.78 era and a 1.02 WHIP. Looks like the Braves will have their work cut out for them.

But that is the future, let’s talk about the recent past…. Where would the Braves be without another guy the Braves have picked up off the discard pile in Arron Harang? No Clayton Kershaw is he but I sure hope the likes of Woods, Teheran and Hale take notice of how to use an opponent’s bat and aggressiveness against said opponent.

Ground balls are more democratic… who needs strike outs when you have guys with gloves behind you?

Things got a little dicey in the eight inning but Fredi proved even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while by bringing in Kimbrel in the eight.

Gil, I didn’t realize it, but that was the only caught stealing of the year, 14-1 is really good….but, I imagine he won’t get another start for awhile…at least FG, has a better excuse right now that BJ ans JHey are hitting some

Folks, I am become an anti fan of the replay. It has become a real point of confusion if you ask me. If MLB is going to depend on the camera, just let one ump sit in the booth and make the calls after watching the monitor 15 times….

Been out of pocket for a few days. I disappear into the NEGA mountains for a few days and Danny goes and gets himself suspended. What is going on there? He’s probably getting saddle sores and ready to force somebody’s hand. Bad situation gets worse. Oh well…

It appears the Braves will not be forthcoming on any details surrounding Dan’s suspension. That is both good and bad, I suppose. Some things should be kept private. Then again, in a public forum, privacy only leads to widespread speculation. And so it is here. The first report was that the suspension was due to tardiness. I have a hard time swallowing that alone as a basis for a suspension. Maybe he was tardy, and maybe that excuse was a good “technical” reason for the suspension. But this is a bad situation, and has been for weeks. The Braves should have released Dan when La Stella was called up to take the spot full time. Dan should have at some point made a formal request for his release. I really don’t get the delay. No team is going to take one penny of salary in a trade. Not that any team would make a trade anyway. But somebody might pick him up if he’s released. Heck, he can go and play in Japan. They’d love him over there.

But now… now a tense situation has gotten publicly bad. If Dan is still a Brave when the season commences vs. the Phillies on Friday, I will be shocked.

And it appears that while Tyler Pastornicky’s bionic right knee has become a chronic source of discomfort (leading to a stint on the AAA DL), Phil Gosselin has surpassed him as the organization’s super-sub. Gosselin has surged recently, even being named the IL’s Player of the Week last week. Gwinnett Manager Brian Snitker has played him all over the field this year, giving him alot of playing time at 2B, SS and 3B as well as some time in LF. His callup might mean that Ramiro Pena’s name has been targeted in Frank’s quest for a LHRP. (BTW- Avilan was absolutely dreadful yesterday. He singlehandedly turned a rout into a close game.)

One item to note, though, is that while Pena is a SH, Gosselin is another righty. Our bench really needs a good LH bopper. Ryan Doumit ain’t it, y’all. He’s OK, but I don’t think he scares any opposing manager very much.

I do not see a need for both Pena and Gosselin on the same roster, so I think something is probably up with one of them. If the Braves finally grant Uggla his release (and have a full 25 usable roster spots again), and one of either Pena or Gosselin is traded, then that will leave a bench spot open for said LH bench bopper. Wonder where we can find one?

Valid points all VOX, but even the best PH still has a poor success rate. Just the facts of life, often when a lefty hitter is brought in, the opposing manager will counter act the move with the propitiate pitcher. Maybe that is why they have such a poor success rate. Anyway, I have a piece that addresses the Uggla bussiness sitting on the big boss’ desk. The idea of bringing up more youth might not work in the face of a close pennant race. It is oft the cooler heads of the grizzled veterans that keep things at an even keel.

Now, as for the lefty bopper… Isn’t that what J-Hey is supposed to be?

Pena has not performed as well this season but maybe that is because the word got out on him.

I was happy to see two things this past weekend. One was Simba cutting down on his swing and going to right field. The other was Sunday when LaStell leveled out his swing. Results was a 3 run gapper to right center… Tws a beautiful sight. Now, if we can just get J-Hey to stand a little taller in the box (worked for Gattis) and we can put a little distance between the Braves and the gNats.